Multi-car collision in Spanaway leaves 3 injured after woman flees from deputies
A multi-car collision injured three people Tuesday in Spanaway after a woman fled Pierce County deputies responding to reports that she and a passenger were passed out in a vehicle with their blinkers and windshield wipers on.
The collision involved four vehicles on Pacific Avenue at 180th Street South, according to Central Pierce Fire & Rescue. The two people in the fleeing vehicle, which deputies later determined was stolen, were hospitalized. The driver of another vehicle involved in the collision suffered serious injuries.
The driver of the stolen vehicle, a 24-year-old woman, was recovering from her injuries Wednesday. Pierce County Sheriff’s Department spokesperson Sgt. Darren Moss said when she is released from the hospital, she will be booked into jail for investigation of first-degree assault, felony hit-and-run, vehicular assault, DUI, eluding a police vehicle, possession of a stolen vehicle, second-degree animal cruelty and several drug-related offenses.
The passenger in the vehicle, a 32-year-old man, was booked on suspicion of first-degree assault, felony hit-and-run, vehicular assault, possession of a stolen vehicle and possession of drug paraphernalia.
The incident began about a mile north of the crash scene, near a coffee shop on 166th Street South.
Deputies responded about 8:03 a.m. to reports of two people passed out in a vehicle there, Moss said. Deputies arrived, woke the two people and asked for their information, but Moss said they were not cooperative. The man in the passenger seat started the car, put the vehicle in reverse and urged the driver to take off, Moss said.
The driver reversed into a patrol vehicle behind her, then drove forward over a bush and onto side street before turning south on Pacific Avenue. A deputy followed the vehicle and found it crashed at 180th Street East. Moss said when deputies located it, the man in the passenger seat tried to flee on foot. He was detained by deputies in a parking lot.
The details of how the crash occurred are unclear, but Central Pierce Fire & Rescue said the vehicle that caused it was traveling at a dangerous speed. The driver of the fleeing vehicle was taken into custody at the scene of the crash. Deputies found that the vehicle’s VIN did not match its license plate, and it was determined that the vehicle was stolen from Frederickson in mid-June.
Two small dogs were also in that vehicle, Moss said. One was ejected and found by a witness, but the second dog could not be located.
This story was originally published July 13, 2022 at 11:02 AM.
